1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to lockers for storing various articles, and in particular to a locker adapted to store articles specifically required for the care of a pet dog.
2. Status of Prior Art
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,369 discloses a dog harness and a leash therefor adapted to discourage a dog from pulling on the leash, thereby giving an individual walking the dog better control of the dog.
In most cites in the United States a dog is not permitted to freely roam the streets, for the dog must be leashed and thereby under the control of the individual holding the leash. And in the city of New York, while a dog is permitted to defecate in the streets, by law the walker of the dog must pick up and package the dog droppings or xe2x80x9cpoopxe2x80x9d so that it can be properly disposed of and not foul the streets.
The common practice for packaging poop is to use for this purpose plastic film bags of the type currently used for storing food.
Most families who dwell in New York City live in apartment houses, there being nearly as many dogs in these houses as there are families. An apartment dweller must walk his pet at least once a day in the streets. Because of this and also because the dog is housed in the apartment, the apartment dweller is faced with certain practical difficulties that do not confront a pet owner who lives in a spacious suburban or rural home.
To properly care for the health and appearance of a pet dog is no small task, for required for this purpose are grooming articles, such as a curry comb and brush as well as health care articles, such as a flea and tick shampoo, and medication prescribed by a veterinarian. It is also important that the dog owner maintain a record of the shots administered to the dog by a veterinarian so that the owner knows when it is necessary to return back to the veterinarian for booster shots or other treatment.
Hence an apartment dweller who more often than not lives in cramped quarters, in order to properly care for his pet dog who shares these quarters, must find space in his apartment for storing the various grooming and health care articles that such care entails.
Since it is common for a dog owner to use standard plastic food bags for packaging dog poop, and such bags are usually stored in a kitchen cabinet, when the dog owner needs a poop bag, he then goes into the kitchen to pick one up. However, to store a dog collar and leash which is needed only when the dog is to be taken outdoors, the most convenient place for this purpose is the closet nearest to the door to the apartment. But this closet is often crowded with clothing. As a consequence, when seeking to retrieve the dog collar and leash, the dog owner may have difficulty in finding these articles in the closet.
As to where to put the dog shampoo, medications for the dog and other health care articles, while these can be put in a bathroom cabinet in which the family shampoo and medications are stored, it is not good practice to intermingle dog care articles with family care articles. Still another problem is just where to store the dog grooming articles so that they are easily accessible.
And if the pet dog is provided with an artificial chewing bone, a small ball or other playthings, it is not a good idea to co-mingle these items with the toys of the family children in a common storage space.
Hence a need exists to store compactly in one place in an apartment or wherever else a pet dog is housed, all of the grooming and health care articles required for the care of the dog.
In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide a locker adapted to compactly store in one place all of the articles necessary to care for a pet dog, the locker providing ready access to these articles.
A significant advantage of a locker in accordance with the invention is that it obviates the need to store the articles a dog owner requires for the care of his dog in scattered places and for the dog owner to remember where a particular article is stored when the need arises to retrieve it.
More particularly, an object of the invention is to provide a locker of the above type which is wall-mountable and occupies a relatively small space on the wall, so that even in a small apartment, or other residencial space can be found to mount the dog locker.
Also an object of this invention is to provide a locker which includes a slot for receiving and storing health treatment sheets on which are recorded the shots administered to the pet dog and other treatment data.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a locker having a dispenser which carries a roll of plastic film poop bags whereby to obtain a bag, one has only to tear it off the roll.
Briefly stated, these objects are attained by a wall-mountable locker adapted to store dog care articles as well as to provide a dispenser for bags to package dog poop, and pegs on which to hang the dog""s collar and a leash therefor whereby whatever one requires to care for a particular dog is compactly stored by the locker.
The locker includes a backboard on which is mounted a cabinet that is compartmentalized to create a group of cubicles, each of which is dimensioned to accommodate a respective article. Supported on the backboard below the cabinet is a dispenser carrying a roll of plastic poop bags, and below the dispenser are the pegs.